Gen 12:2 –Gen 12:3 (NKJV)
I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
In this scripture is the beginning. Abram’s call to the covenant of faith
which changes His life’s destination and the future of the world. A call from the
God of all creation to get out of place he has lived and the lifestyle he has
grown up in, into an unknown land to covenant with Him and become a blessing to all
of the families of the earth. God calls Him to be blessed, (be in covenant with
God), and to be a blessing.
How is it that we forget that the purpose of God and His call to covenant with Him
includes the call for us to be a blessing, not just to be blessed. Who bestows
blessings? Priests and Kings…. We are to bring blessings… something to think on
for sure.
Ex 19:3 –Ex 19:6 (NKJV)
And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel:
‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and
brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My
covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth
is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the
words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
Here is the beginning of the covenant of Law. God does not change our calling nor
our destination. We are to be a holy nation, and priests of our God. What is the
purpose of priests? Are we to be lords or servants? How are we to be a special
treasure, a holy nation, a kingdom of priests if we do not bless? Another thought;
What blessing are we to give or bring to God’s world?
Dt 14:1 –Dt 14:2 (KJV)
Ye are the children of the LORD your God: …….
For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to
be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.
Here is another interesting proclamation by God. Even under the Low He calls us
“children of the Lord”. We are to be a “holy people” (priests). We are a
peculiar people standing between God and all the nations. It is interesting that
we are called the same in the New Testament. There is no change from the calling
of Abraham, through Moses, and then Jesus and the New Creation. Our calling
and position with God has always been for us to be a chosen people, a royal
priesthood, children of God ! And our purpose is to bring the world to know Him.
1Pet 2:9 –1Pet 2:10 (NKJV)
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; ……….
We can never “proclaim His praises” Him unless we know Him, are so in love with
Him that we are compelled to show our relationship off to others. In the old
covenant, the priests did not get to own any land or have an inheritance in the
land. Their inheritance was God and close fellowship with Him. They were to
sacrifice offerings for the sins of the people, stand between the people and God.
Our inheritance is God. We are to live in close, dynamic, personal fellowship
with Him. We are to be caretakers of God’s Kingdom, not hoarders of God’s
blessings. WE are to be like Jesus, who gave Himself to be a sacrifice for the
sins of those who are lost. He lived out His life for the audience of ONE. He
showed us the way to live and give.
1Jn 3:1 –1Jn 3:2 (NKJV)
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
Rev 1:4 –Rev 1:6 (NKJV)
John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Rev 5:9 –Rev 5:10 (NKJV)
And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.”
In these verses lies the unchanging purpose of God. We are called to be Priests
and Kings of our God TO WHO? THE WORLD…… It has always been and
always will be Father’s plan and purpose to be revealed by “His” people and what He
does through and in them… Why do we never get it – that it is not about us?
We are to be those who reveal the greatness of God and the caretaking authority
of God by our love for each other and those in the world. Our problem is that we
never take the responsibility of our relationship as being part of the promises He
gives. We do not recognize our responsibility in the conditions of the promise or
covenant. Saying “yes” means more than simply speaking the word. There is a
required commitment as a result of saying “yes” to the New Covenant, our salvation,
that requires death to self.
Covenant reality should remove self-concerns from our living and fill us with His
concerns and purposes. He has promised to take care of us and says to not be
concerned with the things of life like food, clothes, where we live, etc.
Covenant realities require intimacy – honor, obedience, and sacrifice. Pursuit of
the promises of God tends to be led by pride and selfishness; I want, I deserve, I
declare….
Pursuit of the relationship will produce the promises; love, joy, and peace. As we
are about what pleases God, the promises follow us.
We may be a bit like the Israelites, afraid of His voice. It may be easier for us
if we let someone else hear for us. But, it may cost us as much as it did them. They
dies not inheriting the promise nor the promised land according to the book of
Hebrews. God’s desire to have us fear Him and be close… safe in The Fire of His
Presence they could not handle.
Dt 5:23 –Dt 5:29 (NKJV)
“So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders.
And you said: ‘Surely the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man; yet he still lives. Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? You go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say, and tell us all that the Lord our God says to you, and we will hear and do it.’
“Then the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me: ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken.
Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!
Ps 25:10 –Ps 25:14 (NKJV)
All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,
To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.
For Your name’s sake, O Lord,
Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
Who is the man that fears the Lord?
Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.
He himself shall dwell in prosperity,
And his descendants shall inherit the earth.
The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him,
And He will show them His covenant.
God’s desire, in the scripture in Deuteronomy, was for all the leaders and the elders to draw near. They saw that drawing near to God would not kill them as they expected yet they chose, even after their experience, to fear the intimacy offered. Interesting to me is that the mountain was burning with fire. In the book of Acts, the fire fell upon the heads of those willing to obey and wait on Him. A whole new intimacy began with a crown of the fire demonstrating God’s presence.
In the incident with Moses, the people called drew back in fear. Moses, having an understanding and trust in the character of God stayed. He had a great boldness and authority. In Acts, the disciples had chosen to wait on the Lord. They trusted Jesus and when the fire fell, they ended up with great boldness and authority.
Everything we are looking for in our relationship with Father is found in a correct response to the awesome nature of God as He reveals Himself to us.
You can fear God and have intimacy, understanding, provision, and His love poured out on your life or you can be afraid of (fear) God and be separated from all of His desires for you. The end (of where your “fear” leads you) depends on your knowledge of and trust in the revealed character of God.
It is so simple, do we trust God or can we trust Him? I ask this question a lot but in it is the key.. Most of us need a fresh revelation of what Scripture has told us and shown us. Much of our lack of knowing God is because we are always saying, “that can’t be God” or we think, “that is for someone else, I am not good enough or some other such thinking…. instead of saying, “why wouldn’t this be God” and “Why not me”.
We find ways to disbelieve instead of trust. I ask a lot of questions of people who come to me wanting to find intimacy with Father. One of the first is, “what has God said to you today?” or “who are you and who do you pray to?”
I so much desire that I could lead others in how to find Intimacy with Father but I can’t. I cannot be whom they think they need, nor can any other leader, and impart the heart of Jesus to them. In Moses time, He could not bring others to intimacy and trust in the Lord. Going back even further, Abraham could not do that either. Jesus, even though He demonstrated living in intimacy with Father to the 12, could not get them to understand. ONLY Holy Spirit can bring us to the place we thirst for. It is only in our own hunger, longing and surrender to the Truth that intimacy can be found. We must pursue and never give in till we find what God is offering freely…
Ah, to know Father, Son and Holy Ghost… such a quest, maybe it is the “pearl of great price”, worth conquering being afraid of God and being too close to God, thus having to let go of our pain, anger, unforgiveness, sorrows, and even what we “cherish” most to find what we need most, the fear of being found anywhere outside His presence. Ah, to KNOW God,,,
Will write more later, neil
THIS IS A YEAR OF HARVEST, AND WE NEED TO RECOGNIZE THAT FOR THERE TO BE A GREAT HARVEST, SOMETHING MUST CAUSE PEOPLE TO BE READY TO RECEIVE. GOD IS WAITING FOR US. HE IS GOING TO GIVE US NOTHING MORE. WE HAVE ALL WE GET. WE WILL BE JUDGED FOR NOT BEING FOUND IN THE INTIMACY WE HAVE BEEN CALLED TO. THE WORLD WILL SUFFER FOR OUR SIN. OUR CHOICES CHANGE THE FUTURE… AND EFFECT THOSE AROUND US.. THERE IS A RESPONSIBILITY TO BEING SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD…. WE ARE HIS PRIESTS SENT TO THE WORLD TO BRING HIS SALVATION TO THOSE LOST, HURTING AND BLIND. neil
Leave A Comment